BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday, a day after
anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr threatened to
declare "open war" on the Iraqi government.

"I can confirm that Secretary Rice is in Iraq," a U.S.
embassy spokesman said.

A rebellion by Sadr's Mehdi Army militia -- which has tens
of thousands of fighters -- could abruptly end a period of
lower violence at a time when U.S. forces are starting to leave
Iraq.

Rice is in the Middle East to attend conferences in Gulf
states, including a meeting in Kuwait on Tuesday that will
involve Iraq and its neighbors.

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The threat of a full-scale uprising by Sadr sharply raises
the stakes in the cleric's confrontation with Prime Minister
Nuri al-Maliki, who has threatened to ban Sadr's movement from
political life unless he disbands his militia.

The U.S. military says a truce Sadr imposed on his militia
last August has played a key role in helping cut violence
across Iraq. The militia, besides attacking on U.S. and Iraqi
forces, had also been accused of stoking sectarian bloodshed.

The ceasefire has come under increasing strain since Maliki
launched a crackdown on militias in the southern city of Basra
late last month. The operation sparked major battles with the
Mehdi Army in Basra, other southern cities and also Baghdad.

While fighting has eased in the south, clashes have raged
in the cleric's stronghold of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad.

Earlier on Sunday Rice called on Arab nations to offer
diplomatic ties and debt relief to Iraq's government to reward
its efforts on improving security and political reconciliation.
She is expected to press this request at the Kuwait meeting.